Long Prairie-Grey Eagle Students Get Into Games Free This Year

LONG PRAIRIE -- Students in the Long Prairie-Grey Eagle School District will be able to go to games free this year, thanks to their school board.

The LPGE School Board decided at a recent meeting to wave the fee for students to attend games. The move -- for now -- will only last this school year.

Superintendent Jon Kringen says in an area like Long Prairie, it's important to take into account how well students can afford games.

"Long Prairie is a diverse and economically disadvantaged school district, so for many of our kids, paying four or five bucks was a bit of a hardship. So we thought we'd try this for a year, and see what happens."

He says the decision was made after a short discussion at a board meeting. They had been talking about game time crowds and thought they should do something to boost them. One board member suggested free attendance for students.

Kringen says after some research into cost-effectiveness, they ran with free tickets for students. He says they hope that it will help boost school spirit as well.

"One objective is to improve school spirit. The more kids we can get at games, the more kids we can get involved, the better off it is for them, and the better off it is for the school."

The school board will look into how well this new policy works this year, and reassess for next year.